noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The jaw or a jawbone, especially the lower jawbone in mammals and fishes.
2. 2
   the jaw in vertebrates that is hinged to open the mouth wordnet
3. 3
   Either of the upper and lower segments of a bird's beak.
4. 4
   Any of various invertebrate mouthparts serving to hold or bite food materials.
5. 5
   Any of various invertebrate mouthparts serving to hold or bite food materials.; One of the anterior pair of mouthparts of an arthropod, designed for holding and cutting food.

Synonyms

All synonyms

jawbonelower jawsubmaxillabonedentarydentary

Example

More examples

"Many methods have been proposed for treating fractures of the atrophic mandible."

Etymology

From late Middle English, from Late Latin mandibula (“a jaw”), from mandō (“to chew, masticate”) + -bula (instrument noun suffix).

Related phrases

lower jaw

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.